Friends Reflect On Memories Made With Fallen Soldier, Private First Class Wood

Local Serviceman Had Fallen In Love Before His Final Deployment

by Michael Stanley Staff Writer

A U.S. Army carry team transfers the remains of Army Private First Class Brett E. Wood of Spencer at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware on Monday. (U.S. Air Force Photo by Roland Balik) Brett Wood was on leave for what seems like just days ago to his friend Derek Mundy and his girlfriend Ashley Peterson. Mundy and cousin, Josh Wood, had loaded up with Brett in a rental car. The three road tripped across the country, 1,600 miles just to see the smiling face of a girl the young U.S. Army Private First Class was crazy about. They spent time together, laughing and just enjoying each other’s company.

Ashley may have thought she’d come to Spencer one day to visit Brett and meet his family, but little did she know it would happen all entirely too soon, and without the young man she had fallen in love with.

Older brother Pfc. Nikk Wood (left) enlisted at the same time as his younger brother, Pfc. Brett Wood. Nikk is the escort for Pfc. Wood’s body back to the United States. (Courtesy Photo) “We met on April 15 and fell in love right around then; that was right before he left for Afghanistan the first time,” Ashley explained after arriving in Spencer on Monday afternoon. “We stayed close throughout the summer, and then after he was sent home he called and said he was coming to Utah.”

Ashley always knew Brett was a special guy and, as she said, he made her feel like a special girl.

“Brett was the kind of guy who made sure everybody was taken care of before he was,” she shared. “There aren’t very many 19-year-old guys who are willing to go and die for everyone else. It didn’t matter if he didn’t want to do something, if it needed to be done he was the first to step up that’s for sure. He would say, ‘This isn’t the type of thing I’d like to be doing, but I’d do it for anyone.’ He said, ‘I love my country and everyone in it, I’d die for them in a heartbeat.”

This Kia Spectra parked in the family yard of mother, Malissa Frye, has been transformed into a memorial full of well wishes and candles in honor of U.S. Army Pfc. Brett Wood. (Staff Photo) Peterson was staying with Mundy and members of Wood’s family during her two-week stay in Spencer.

“He was the best guy I know; he was always smiling. He didn’t care what you wanted to do, even if he didn’t like it he’d do it just to make everybody happy,” Mundy said recalling his best friend, his brother. “He loved his family and friends; he was a Spencer boy, he didn’t really know anything else. He wasn’t even my friend, he was my brother, we did everything together. In high school we were inseparable, there wasn’t a day we didn’t hang out. It really stinks to have him gone... it doesn’t seem right that he had his life taken away at such a young age.”

Siblings Nikk Wood, Amber Poland, Cory Polland and Brett Wood (left to right) share a moment together during a recent trip home on leave for Nikk and Brett. (Courtesy Photo) His fondest memory of Pfc. Wood was the long trek to and from Utah just a few weeks ago.

“He met a girl on the Internet from Utah and we took a random trip out there. We got back two days before he left to go back (overseas), we didn’t have a place to stay or even a car,” Mundy said. “We rented a car and drove 1,600 miles to see her, and just fell in love with her. It was the most fun we’ve ever had. He told me before he left that he didn’t think he was going to be coming home, he just had a gut feeling that he just wasn’t going to make it. It was the most random thing we’ve ever done, but something told me I needed to take that trip. It was our last hoorah together. We took so many videos and went hiking up a mountain; just acted normal. We planned the trip in two days. We were in an Applebees in Utah and it was karaoke night. They were the worst singers, we just laughed so hard. He’s going to be missed, that’s for sure.”

Ashley Peterson and Brett Wood had the chance to spend a few days together in August after Wood and a pair of friends took a trip to see Peterson in Utah. (Courtesy Photo) Another tight connection to Pfc. Wood is long-time friend Billy Allen, who shared a home with Wood for a few months during their senior year. The pair had been friends since eighth grade.

A homemade sign in honor of Private First Class Brett Wood has been placed in the State Road 46 West yard of John and Sandra McKay. (Staff Photo) “It was really fun when he got to come to Montana with me over the summer. We met my grandparents and went to Glacier National Park and had a good time in Montana,” Allen said Monday during a break from classes at Indiana State University. “He was a good kid; he kind of always knew he wanted to do something in the military. We always like to play video games, watch movies, just go out and have a good time, hang out with friends.”

Lately, Allen has felt numerous emotions just like the rest of those who were so close to Pfc. Wood.

“I have a lot of sorrow that I won’t be able to see him in the future... he’s not going to be able to live a full life, get married and have kids,” Allen noted. “He won’t be there when I have those things happen. It’s just a lot of sorrow.”

Allen said Wood valued friends and family above anything else.

“He was all about having a good time – he was always laughing and smiling,” Allen said. “He always wanted others to be having a good time, that was his goal. I’ll remember all of the fun times we had hanging out together from middle school, him coming over in high school. I’ll remember all of the good times we had.”

Allen, the son of United States Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Dave Allen (ret.), said he wasn’t able to make close friends until his last move to Owen County in the eighth grade.

“We moved around a lot and to finally be in one location for that long after dad retired... Brett was my best friend and the longest term friend I’ve ever had,” Allen said. “That was a very close bond, we were best friends.”

Childhood friend Katie Lantz recalled the beautiful smile Wood had, his pretty blue eyes and the mischievous smirk often found on his face.

“Our freshman year we went to X-Fest and by the time we got up there, we ran out of gas and missed the first band because of it. We would always cruise around and jam to rock music and sing horribly loud. He had the prettiest blue eyes and he could make anybody smile,” she said. “He was one of my best friends, I’ve known him since first grade, we grew up together. He had one of the biggest hearts out of anybody I know. If I called him, he was there no matter what, he was a really good friend. Even if he didn’t know you very well, he always asked how you were doing. He was always texting people or on facebook checking on everybody. He missed his friends a lot. He had the biggest heart in the world.”